Edie hadn’t liked Ben Herman even before he started cheating on her little sister and calling it enlightened. Claudia had this idea that she’d won something when Ben asked her to be his girlfriend. He’s so talented, she’d say. And yes, Ben had been well-reviewed for supporting parts in a couple off-Broadway shows, and did a three-episode arc on an HBO drama, but it wasn’t like he’d just wandered into auditions and won everybody over: his father’s production company won two Oscars and was bought by Disney before Ben was even born. It was sad, of course, that his dad had died, but when Edie looked at Ben she saw a person who’d never really had to work for anything. A good-looking guy with family money and lots of connections. She’d grown up with those guys; she’d been infatuated with her share. She knew all about them. Which is why she’d married Nathan.

They’d met walking across the Mid-Hudson Bridge early the spring before. Edie was finishing her senior year and not looking forward to going home, or to the Vineyard, for the summer. Claudia had just called with news that their parents had a big fight and their mom hadn’t slept at the town house in almost a week. Edie went out for a walk and when she stopped to lean over the railing and look south toward the city, Nathan walked by.

“Gorgeous, right?” he said, smiling.

They hadn’t been apart more than two days since, and when they were together they were at each other. Once or twice they ran out of condoms. When she told Nathan that she was pregnant, he asked what she wanted to do.

“I don’t know yet,” she said. “What do you want to do?”

“I know it’s up to you, but if you want, I’m ready to just do this thing. Get married, start our lives. I can keep working for my family until I get something full-time.”